Home/The MountainWorld Blog by Jake Norton/One of the first major discoveries of the Mallory and Irvine story happened 81 years ago today. On May 30, 1933, Percy Wyn-Harris and Lawrence Wager were climbing toward the summit of #Everest on the Northeast Ridge. Not far from where this image was taken in 1999, #Wyn-Harris stopped to warm his feet and saw wood below him in the rubble of the upper Yellow Band. Looking closer, he found a wooden ice ax…No one had been here before except for Mallory and Irvine 9 years prior. He took the ax with him, and later it was identified as Irvine’s ax. Later that day, the two continued on toward the summit, following Norton’s route from 1924, and turning around at roughly the same spot in the Great Couloir at 28,100 feet. #malloryandirvine #everesthistory

One of the first major discoveries of the Mallory and Irvine story happened 81 years ago today. On May 30, 1933, Percy Wyn-Harris and Lawrence Wager were climbing toward the summit of #Everest on the Northeast Ridge. Not far from where this image was taken in 1999, #Wyn-Harris stopped to warm his feet and saw wood below him in the rubble of the upper Yellow Band. Looking closer, he found a wooden ice ax…No one had been here before except for Mallory and Irvine 9 years prior. He took the ax with him, and later it was identified as Irvine’s ax. Later that day, the two continued on toward the summit, following Norton’s route from 1924, and turning around at roughly the same spot in the Great Couloir at 28,100 feet. #malloryandirvine #everesthistory

Instagram Photo Caption: One of the first major discoveries of the Mallory and Irvine story happened 81 years ago today. On May 30, 1933, Percy Wyn-Harris and Lawrence Wager were climbing toward the summit of #Everest on the Northeast Ridge. Not far from where this image was taken in 1999, #Wyn-Harris stopped to warm his feet and saw wood below him in the rubble of the upper Yellow Band. Looking closer, he found a wooden ice ax…No one had been here before except for Mallory and Irvine 9 years prior. He took the ax with him, and later it was identified as Irvine’s ax. Later that day, the two continued on toward the summit, following Norton’s route from 1924, and turning around at roughly the same spot in the Great Couloir at 28,100 feet. #malloryandirvine #everesthistory